New Order's Latest Was Worth the Wait

Contrary to another review on this web site--a review frustratingly inaccurate in its details about the band--New Order's latest album, Waiting for the Sirens' Call stands as one of the band's best efforts and with a roll call of classic albums to their credit, that's really saying something. The first single "Krafty" is a crafty nod to the influence of Kraftwerk on the band and once you year it, you'll be hard-pressed to stop humming the tune. The best song on the album, and perhaps New Order's best song since "Regret," is the title tune. Peter Hook's bass lead of the melody is a return to the triumphs of "Temptation" and "The Perfect Kiss" and the lyrics on this song are among the most moving the band has ever written, though once again lyrically the band suffers in comparison to its days as Joy Division when the haunted Ian Curtis was writing suicide notes as lyrics. The duet with Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic (surely one of rock's best names since Poly Styrene) is jet another triumph, and something a little different for the band. This may be the most un-New Orderish song the band has ever written, but the duet is performed wonderfully between Matronic and lead singer Bernard Sumner and creates an evocative atmosphere that, unfortunately, the video fails to capture. There is something missing from this effort by New Order and it's Gillian Gilbert's broad wash of keyboards. That keyboard sound has become as much a part of New Order's strength as Hook's bass and there is a definite difference without her, but her replacement ably steps up to the challenge of bringing something new to the mix. New Order's latest is clearly not the sign of a band struggling to catch up. No, this album is unquestionably the best thing you'll hear on the radio this year. That is, if American radio would play New Order!